It is attended by Sergey Vershinin, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Middle East and North Africa Department, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Gennady Gatilov, said on Tuesday.

"Preparations for the meeting are proceeding as usual," the diplomat said. "Technical consultations are underway on Tuesday, Vershinin went there."

"Let’s hope there will be no disruptions, because it is an important and urgent matter, which is necessary to make progress in the Syrian settlement and pave the way for the Geneva process," Gatilov stressed.

On February 6, Astana hosted the first meeting of the joint group monitoring the ceasefire in Syria that brought together experts from Russia, Turkey, Iran, the UN and Jordan. The group was formed after a conference on the Syrian settlement held in Kazakhtan’s capital on January 23-24. The next meeting of the joint group is scheduled for February 15-16.